Companies

Dr Martens plans 100 new stores for the next five years

The iconic UK-based brand is planning to open 100 new stores and shop-in-shops over the next five years, after opening 11 own stores and nine shop-in-shops in the year to the 31st of March

Over the same period the retailer has shut down 250 non strategic wholesale accounts, with an impact on wholesale revenues, which dropped by 14%. Now, the UK-based brand is aiming to restructure its wholesale and export channels, with a major focus on more direct-to-consumer retail operations.

This can be seen in the 24.3% growth to 160.2 million British pounds in physical and online direct to consumer retail sales over the year.

“As part of our strategy we identified the need to expand and upgrade our direct relationship with consumers at point of purchase, be it through our own stores, our partner stores or a much better web experience”, said Chief Executive Steve Murray, adding: “This is working and it’s been particularly satisfying to see double-digit sales increases in our owned retail and ecommerce channels”.

79% of Dr Martens sales are generated outside the UK, with a particularly strong contribution from Asia (rising by 19% and totaling 46.3 million British pounds during the year).